Akasa Kusum (; ) is a 2008 Sri Lankan Sinhala drama film directed by Prasanna Vithanage and co-produced by H.D. Premasiri, Prasanna Vithanage, and A. Sreekar Prasad for Sarasavi Cineroo Films. It stars Malini Fonseka and Nimmi Harasgama in lead roles along with Dilhani Ekanayake and Kaushalya Fernando. Music composed by Lakshman Joseph de Saram. Filming starts on 23 December 2007 in Colombo. It received a world premiere at the Pusan International Film Festival in October 2008, and won numerous awards at various other festivals. The film was released in Sri Lanka on 21 August 2009, and became a box-office hit in that country. It was also Sri Lanka's initial entry to the 2010 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, but was replaced by Alimankada. In May 2009, American film distribution company, Wonderphil Productions granted international distribution rights for the film. Plot Sandhya Rani (Malini) is an aging film star who was once the darling of the silver screen. Having lost fame and fortune in a changing world, she now lives quietly in obscurity. She ekes out a living by renting out a room in her home to the young film and television stars of today to satisfy their illicit sexual desires, and by selling dumplings. Rani is introduced to Shalika (Dilhani), a popular film actress, when she decides to carry on her affair with a co-star past shooting. Shalika's husband discovers this, and the scandal and publicity brings Rani and Shalika closer as friends. Rani is invited to a media program on television, as a backup, and after the interview, her profile raises again. Priya Gunaratne (Nimmi), is a woman in her mid-20s, who happens to be two months pregnant, unmarried, HIV-positive, and is employed at a karaoke night club. It is a tough life, but she is able to develop a friendship with another hostess named Bunty (Samanalee). Shalika tries getting in touch with Udith (Pubudu), her former costar and current lover, with the hopes that he will continue their relationship, but he decides to callously end things over the phone. Rani commiserates with Shalika by exploring her industry affair and the patriarchy inherent in the entertainment industry. Their conversation inspires confidence in Shalika; the next day she calls a magazine to announce that she will start working in teledramas. This opens more work opportunities and includes Rani in the teledrama. Priya sees a clip from the